My dad was a crane operator in an operators union and was gifted a horn from Big Muskie at some point during his time before he retired. I can thankfully say that I still have that horn!
My grand dad was one of the operators on this through the 70’s and retired in 78 ,, Roy Ginn rest his soul,,,, who would of known I’d follow suit, I have been i the crane and rigging industry since 1991 here in Southern California. It has been a great career and couldn’t be happier. I have pictures of us standing in front of his 1978 ford crew cab in the bucket of Big Muskie!!
My uncle Glenn Horner was the head of operations for Muskie. Some old timers might remember him. Coal miners grand daughter here. A disaster at mine 6 was when Grandpa, Pop Horner quit mining. Great history of miners. His son was Glenn.
My all time favorite Dragline!😍I love watching this and remembering watching Big Muskie work in real life before she was lost. That was such a shame..if my family had been there before demolition, we could have purchased Big Muskie and preserved her as a museum piece. We worked on projects like this with various other gigantic machine restoration and preservation..not as big as this one, but we would have pulled it off. Everyone in my family has worked with Draglines all of their lives, so this would have been a welcome opportunity.
I wish you could have preserved her. Many people were interested but the cost of cleaning her was going to be enormous. I believe the Tub was around half full of Open gear Lubricant that would have cost a bundle to have removed and disposed of.. Anyway it is a shame to lose this piece of history.
@@MegaDonns Believe me it would have been a pleasure to preserve her..money wouldn't have been a problem at all and I would have enjoyed the challenge.
@@SarahAParis I can imagine you would have had a lot of volunteers to help, i probably would have been one of them too. I spent most of my working life as a Marion Power Shovel Co. Erectore setting up Draglines and Shovels in mostly foreign locations. I miss the big guys every day.
I’m sorry you didn’t get the opportunity to save this amazing machine . It’s a shame how machines work their time faithfully and then mostly when their job is done they are cut up . This is true for almost everything , then it’s too late , oh we should have saved that machine . I’m interested in steam engines , old earthmoving equipment and am always looking out for interesting stuff to save for future generations . You family is doing a great job , keep teaching young people about restoring and keeping the knowledge of maintaining this incredible equipment alive . All the best from New Zealand
This beauty and the others like it are, I think, some of our greatest creations as a species. The fact that we made a machine over 67 times the weight of an antarctic blue whale for a specific purpose, and that fulfills that purpose well, that just makes me happy and proud of humanity.
Thanks for this great video. The closeups of the bucket digging and dumping were excellent and gave me a slight feeling of operating it. I can only imagine the feeling of controlling all of that extreme power. I will state it again. The Big Muskie, and other machinery similar to it, are engineering, fabricating, and production marvels, in the mechanical world. Impressive is not a good enough description.
My uncle worked for Bucyrus-Erie back in the 1970s-1980s, and he showed me a photo of two Greyhound buses side by side within the bucket of this machine. Yes, it was just *that* big.
I used to work on the muskie in 1981 Its mesmerizing to watch it clear away the overburden after the hillside was blasted away with explosives like 1/4 mile at a time
Hi John, I'm a student currently working with 100 Days of Appalachia on a story about the Big Muskie. If possible, I would love to hear about your experience. Please feel free to message me if you're interested. I'm also happy to provide my email address if that works better! Thanks so much, Sarah
For those who dont really understand earthwork, this might put into perspective of how much dirt 220cy is. An average dump truck will hold 10-12 cy. For cowboy math lets just use 10cy/truck. That would be 22 dump truck loads in one bucket for Big Muskie. Thats what you would call not fucking around. Awesome machine!!!
I saw Muskie in person twice. I also saw the Silver Spade numerous times. If you have never seen something this big up close you can't imagine just how big they are.
2 times our high school agriculture class toured Muskie, the reclamation projects and the automated railway after 1969..I've searched for these videos frequently and happy I found this today..Really appreciate your posting this...Funny thing my mind can't recall any of the tours..
@@butterflieshoneybees8181 "Back in the day", individuals could call and arrange a tour like I did for my son and myself in 1993 or 94. Depending on the work load-which was apparently non-existent the day we went-and the security person conducting the tour, a person could get REALLY up close. This machine was a true beast, but ultimately so much more expensive to operate than blasting which led to its' "retirement".
Some Awesome things we use to build here in the !!!USA 🇺🇸!!! BIG Toys! Like Big Muskie and Brutus for removing coal from the ground which wasn't feasible to dig mining tunnels for being the ground above was either not supportive enough or it was shallow enough to just remove the top layer of overburden. The size and weight of these machines are incredible alone. Then taking into account that they were mostly running on strictly electric motors and not so much hydraulics is another incredible feature of these things. American ingenuity at its best👌
Never thought to take video of this machine in my many trips to "Ohio Power/AEP ReCreationland" but did get some fantastic pics of it inside and out when AEP was doing "tours" of the area after it had been retired. The person (AEP Security personnel) doing the tour was impressed by my five year old son's knowledge of large excavators (most kids are fascinated by them) and let us get pics inside and all around, INSIDE the security fence at the site. After that the security person took us on a tour of active mining sites even to the point of sitting within a stone's throw of excavators (half or less the size of "Big Muskie" removing overburden and filling trucks whose tires were 6-7 feet tall. Somewhere I have pictures of that tour-over 100 of them.
@Alex Gregis ...Funny this comes up now...My ex and I were texting the other day and in the course of the messaging she mentioned sorting through old pictures which she rattled off what they were. At the end of that list she texted "Oh and there are at least 100 here of 'Big Muskie'-thanks for that.". We had this agreement that we would do the twofer option on pictures from vacations with our son and give each other the duplicates to keep each other current on what our son was up to.
@@jjMcCartan9686 silver spade was an amazing piece of kit too and it was destroyed, the silver spade had a brother called the gem of Egypt, was the very same machine only had a slightly shorter or longer boom I'm not sure which, bucyrus eire made fantastic machinery. Never be the likes of them again
Brian,Thank you so much for posting this! I've been studying Big Muskie and The Captain (Marion 6360) ever since I was a boy and have seen very little video footage of her, especially working. In my mind, a photograph doesn't do this machine justice. Video does a lot more to get a sense of how gigantic she was. Especially seeing that 220 cubic yard bucket being swung around like its a fishing hook. Very powerful and intense footage captured here. I've already watched it half a dozen times. You made my day. Thank you.
bluecoatscheesypoofs big muskie was a wonder of the world in my opinion, mindblowing piece of kit, she was a special piece of engineering for its time, it was far ahead of its time id actually say, their will never be the likes of her again ever, it was one of a kind, and most importantly the sick individual who came up with the plan to destroy it and send it for scrap well that individual should of been punished and beaten to death manually with a shovel just for suggesting such a sick plan, muskie should be a museem right now, imagine the money it would generate for america now...people from all over the world would make the trip to america just to see and tour her, includeing me from republic of ireland, at least weve a few photos and footage on youtube of her to keep our minds pondering and wondering and always thinking of what could of been,live on big muskie forever.
I saw it about 4 times in the late 1970s-early 1980s. You just cannot imagine the size until you have seen it up close. Anyone who has ever been around mining equipment knows how big a D11 is but Muskie made big dozers look like house flies.
There was also a 325 cu. yd bucket. I was fortunate enough to see this machine in operation on my many camping/hunting/fishing trips to the land AEP/Central Ohio Coal turned into recreational land. I was also fortunate enough to see Muskie right up close (in around and under) after her retirement-about five years before (1994) she was scrapped. By that time she had been stripped of all controls and motors but still had the hydraulics intact and the bucket was still rigged to the boom. Somewhere I have a picture the AEP/Central Ohio Coal security person showing us around the mines took of my then five year old son and myself standing in the bucket. I had to take three profile/side pictures of the machine to get it all then stitch them together with photoshop. That thing was MAMMOTH.
I got pictures of me standing in the bucket in Ohio in 2017 it's in a park it's huge you need to see it in person pictures and videos are good but till you stand it will make you wonder how big the rest was wish they would have kept the machine
@@michaelcullen4990You'd travel from Ireland to see big muskie ? That's impressive, me ? I'd travel from Ireland to see the grand canyon or the cascades or zion national park & I'm a fan of big iron too lol.
We are planning our annual "Bucket Run!" down to the Big Muskie Bucket. Kick stands up at 8:00am from the Circle K at St Rts 224 & 241 in Akron. This is an all day ride with the Righteous Riders chapter 216 of the Christian Motorcyclists Association. Come Ride With Us!
They probably had some jerk for a boss who watched their every move from a comfortable place in the shade, pulled up in a pickup every 15 minutes to needle them, and ruined it all for them.
Ok here’s a note from the preservation group that worked to save it A sad day for thousands of people worldwide who had worked for months and raised many thousands of dollars to preserve this giant piece of history and promising tourist attraction... Although a scrapping contract had been awarded and internal scrapping had been progressing for months, negotiations have also been underway with AEP to preserve the Big Muskie. In the midst of negotiations, all hope suddenly ended however on May 20, 1999 when the contractor Mayer-Pollock Steel Corporation made their decision to use high explosives to cut the 5 inch cables holding Big Muskie's mighty boom up. The boom crashed to the ground in a twisted mess, completely eliminating any hope of preservation. We know that Big Muskie's preservation efforts will not be in vain as it has brought many many concerned people together for a very positive endeavor. This effort should now be directed toward the preservation of other remaining giants on our land. Thank You to all those who have donated their time, money, or efforts toward the preservation of the Big Muskie
More efficient mining methods, new environmental regulations and a reduced demand for Ohio coal have silenced the world's largest walking dragline, Big Muskie. The 12-story behemoth of a strip-mining machine has rested for eight years surrounded by a steel fence on Muskingum Mine land in southeastern Ohio near Cumberland. A tourist attraction in its own right, the monster earth-mover can be seen from miles away. But not for many more years On Jan. 13, Big Muskie's fate was sealed when its owner, American Electric Power, awarded a contract for the dismantling and disposal of the Bucyrus-Erie 4250W walking dragline. Columbus-based AEP looked "long and hard" at saving the machine, corporate communications representative Vikki Michalski said, but "there is no way to sustain it financially." The paint job alone needed to fight off rust was estimated at $100,000 to $250,000, an article in Equipment Echoes, a publication of the Historical Construction Equipment Association of Grand Rapids, Ohio, reports. The story also estimated the bill for demolition could run as high as $1 million. Word of the decision to cut Big Muskie down to size over the next 15 months triggered a pilgrimage of sorts last month as dozens of people crossed miles of mine country on foot to take one last look and photograph the majestic dragline. Visitors to Big Muskie shared stories about childhood visits. One even talked about experiencing the machine's inner chambers as an employee of the power company. Mayer Pollock Steel Corp. of Pottstown, Pa., has been contracted to dismantle the machine that is longer than a football field. When the demolition is complete the Central Ohio Coal Co., a subsidiary of AEP will complete reclamation of the land as required by state and federal regulations, Michalski said. Rules governing Central Ohio's reclamation of the land and removal of all machinery are set forth in the federal Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977, which expires in 2001. HCEA archivist Tom Berry said that "according to the Ohio Department of Mines & Reclamation, a revision to the mining permit could have allowed preservation of Big Muskie had the other terms of the Surface Mining & Reclamation Act been met." Berry said AEP and The Wilds, an animal preserve located nearby, submitted an application to revise the mining permit, asking permission to leave Big Muskie in place and leave several thousand feet of highwall unreclaimed as part of an educational facility on the history of mine reclamation law. BIG MUSKIE'S BUCKET dwarfs a Jeep Cherokee that has been backed into it.Sandy Traxler photo But AEP withdrew its application for permit revision when it saw that it would not pass all the act's requirements. In other words," Berry said, "no highwall can be left unreclaimed at all under the terms of the law and suit can be brought against any party connected with unreclaimed highwall in the event of injury or damages suffered due to the highwall." Construction of the huge dragline began in 1967 at a site southwest of Cumberland. Big Muskie was formally dedicated on May 22, 1969. The $25 million machine became an attraction, with people traveling from near and far to watch it work. The mighty machine is 150 feet wide -- the width of an eight-lane highway -- and longer than a row of nine railroad coal hoppers. At 27,000,000 pounds, it weighs more than 150 Boeing 727 jetliners. The bucket, with a capacity of 220 cubic yards could hold 1,100 men standing three tall. Each tooth of the bucket measures three feet in length. The machine could move 325 tons of earth in a single bite or 39 million pounds of material per hour, averaging one bucket per minute. Big Muskie could work a 290,000-square-foot area equivalent to a 6-acre park without changing position. The dragline was powered by electricity delivered by a 13,000 volt "extension cord" -- enough power to serve 27,500 homes. Moving from site to site Big Muskie "walked" on four hydraulic-driven shoes, size 20 feet by 65 feet. During its years of operation Big Muskie moved more than 483 million cubic yards of earth -- nearly twice the amount of earth that was moved to create the 40-mile Panama Canal. Used to remine areas previously mined by smaller draglines and power shovels, Big Muskie allowed Central Ohio Coal Co. to remove coal that had been left behind because of the limitations of the smaller machines. In 1986 approximately 10,000 acres of land mined by Big Muskie was donated to the International Center for the Preservation of Wild Animals to create The Wilds, North America's largest open-range preserve for threatened and endangered species. In return, the Wilds, located about two miles from Big Muskie, was one of several parties that tried to save the historic dragline. They had hoped to use it as a teaching tool in educating people about the mining industry and land reclamation. Not giving up hope, Wilds executive director Robert Reece said the group was continuing to approach AEP officials as late as last week with a proposal to rescue a piece of history
Outstanding and rare footage. Thanks for sharing. To be honest: I don't entirely understand how a walking dragline is used in the process of coal extraction. I understand that it is used for removal of overburden, but to my understanding the overburden is removed on one side of the mine in order to expose the coal and dumped on the opposite side on areas where the coal has already been extracted. But even with a 200 m jib the distance between removal and dumping of the material will be limited to about 300 m. Would this give enough room to extract coal between the excavating and the dump side of the mine? In German lignite mines the overburden is removed by bucket wheel excavators, transported around the pit by belts and dumped by stackers on the coaled out areas. (e.g. Hambach, Garzweiler, Inden) The distance between both sides can be several kilometers. There are also a few mines in East Germany where overburden is moved across the pit via overburden transporter bridges over a distance of about 700 m. (e.g. Jänschwalde, Nochten and formerly Cottbus)
The process was pretty simple. The Dragline dug a pit (trench) down to the Coal seam. The dirt was swung around to the side and dumped. Ideally the swing was mo more than 90 degrees to the side and the pit was around 2 1/2 tub widths wide. A machine with a 60 foot tub would dig a pit about 150 feet wide and up to 120 feet deep. The pit would be dug arou d 3/4 tp a mile long. After they had a pit a few hundred yards long the shovels would go down to the Coal seam and start loading the haul trucks. When the Dragline got to the end of the planned pit it would walk back along sid the pit (deadhead) to the starting point. While this was going on the coal loading operation kep going to the far end of the pit. The Dragline would then start a new pit alongside the old one dumping the spoils into the old pit. This is a very simple description. Other operations such as throw blasting were also goi g on, anything to get the spoils over to the side to uncover the coal.
Yeah over 100 years of mining with machinery, teams of engineers and $100 of billions of dollars never thought of the best methods for mining that particular geology. Get a brain!
Heavy equipment, such as; bulldozers, tractors, scrapers, roadgraders, and in particular, draglines and cranes, have fascinated me since I was a toddler. The Big Muskie was an engineering and construction marvel. It hurts some to know it has been scrapped for some time, now. It struck me, while watching this video; It would take a huge, expensive crane to lift and place something that weighed 700,000 pounds. Of course crawler crane operators have to be very experienced and careful, with a load like that, and have to use outriggers and many tons of counter weights. The Big Muskie was designed to dig, lift, carry, and dump that much weight, hundreds of times a day, like on a production assembly line, and last for decades doing it. I like that The Big Muskie always looked pretty sharp in all of these videos, and wasn't let become a rust bucket, while still in operation, like draglines in some videos.
In the days when Muskie was built it was fairly common to use Guy Derricks as the main lifting machine for the assembly. In those days a 4100 Manitowoc was a huge crane. When I was with Marion years ago we used to own some Clyde Derricks that we rented to erection contractors or supplied for the job if it was a turn-key job. I remember setting up a 125 ton Clyde near Aurora NC when we erected an 8050 for the old TexasGulf Phosphate mine in 1975 or so. In addition to being an OLD Dragline erector I also was (still am sometimes) a Crane operator. (Received my 55 year of service award from the IUOE about 2 weeks ago).
The day this thing died and was cut up was the day that America as a major industrial power died because we failed to preserve this machine and we failed to preserve the fact that we truly built things that were made to do the job and get that job done and done right the first time unlike now where everybody can't do anything right
Railroad,Preserver,2000 ....That is so true. That machine should have been available for future generations to see what a great nation can dream and manufacture. What a loss!
I mean it comes down to operating costs and the fact that moving it to a different location just to be a monument (which still costs 100s of thousands of dollars to maintain) doesn't make sense.
Brian, I have been the dragline business. I was tearing down a 2570 outside of Zanesville Oh. Around 2004. I met a man that operated Muskie. He made a VHS copy of all of his collection of videos he had on The Muskie. It was a very similar collection of videos except it had some home video of him operating it.. I wish I could remember his name. I was wondering if you might know who I am talking about. I was staying in Cambridge and met him in the Lounge at the Best Western
Yes its on Rt 78 southwest of Caldwell Ohio, in a park called Miners Memorial. You can walk inside of the bucket and really get an idea of its size. I was fortunate enough to see it operate in the early 90s.
My now deceased other half was with AEP I was able to explore that machine before it was scrapped pictures can never show the scale of it. The house had a overhead crane inside to lift motors and other parts they were servicing it’s a shame it was cut up nothing like it had ever existed and never will .
They planning to deconstruct those bucket wheel excavators becuase of inviromental reasons and the biggest was constructuctes in the time Adofl Hitler. The machine could move 1.500.000 tons of overbourden and coal a day. I could itself extract the coal out. The machine was many machines in one. Now the search for buyers to scrap it....Merkel destroys everthing...
You can even tho big muskie is scrapped the bucket is at a park where people can see it plus you can see big Brutus a classic stripping shovel which is huge but not as big as the captain which was a classic stripping shovel as big as big muskie big Brutus is at a park where people can see it and it is fully intact but the captain is No longer here it was scrapped look it up on TH-cam you can also see big Brutus the classic stripping shovel on TH-cam along with Big Muskie bucket and the Captain stripping shovel not to mention the Captain is the largest stripping shovel ever built while Big Muskie is the largest dragline crane ever built
I know this is a long shot... But does anyone know the song they play at the beginning? I have this film on DVD and it doesn't say on there. I suppose it's just stock film from an old outdated editing software. But I want to use it for some films I'm making involving massive earth movers
We had two drag lines by my house in Indiana one was called big red and the other was called big kate I was able to climb all over big red after the mine shut down 😂 I got to see every inch of it and man was it big almost as big as muskie
The one just east of Evansville In. is still there. You can see it, the gantry, from I-64 MM 41.5, It's about 3 mile to the south. Hasn't been used for at least a decade. The area is still an active mining site but using smaller hydraulic shovels. I think it's the one called Big Kate. I well recall seeing it working back when the site was being stripped in the 90s. I would love to get a tour of it but it's way off the access roads, and don't know who I could contact to get permission.
If your talking about the old Amax 3270W it was the 2nd largest dragline built which weighed 17.5 million pounds and had a 176 yard bucket Big Muskie weighed 27 million pounds with a 220 yard bucket
He's got an electric coffee pot right there next to him! wow! how convenient! I wonder where he plugs it in at? must have to have a long extension cord back to the office!!! lol !!
Big Muskie wad like most other Draglines. Lots of comforts of home. Most of the Marion Draglines I put up had Things like Stoves, Fridges, Microwaves and sometimes onboard toilets. Usually there was a bed or sofa so the groundsman or visitors could catch a nap, especiall the dual cab machines.
I witnessed them moving a dragline from the north side of I70 to the south side in the early nineties near Terre Haute In. Anyone familiar with that machine?
Discovery +, Disney and Nickelodeon are all coming out with several “Drag Line” TV programs in 2022 (I don’t recommend them). What a difference 30 years makes…
Acho muita máquina muita estrutura para pouca terra retirada, essa concha é muito pequena para uma estrutura enorme, acho que o custo benefício muito alto, ou seja os gastos a máquina não paga,
I read somewhere that Muskie was a victim of his own success. So big that structural failures were inevitable and did occur. Far from being a critic because I love big walking draglines, but was the size of him really necessary owing to the shallowness of the easily accessible seams of coal?
@@@Bowiiihowdy The power was basically free since the mining was for a power plant 30 miles or so down the road toward Marietta, Ohio and there were dedicated lines and a conveyer system-in addition to the electric train-that moved coal to the plant about halfway between the mining operation and Marietta. The cables were easily the size of a muscular man's upper arm. There was a crew of six or seven (besides the driver) one of which was a welder and also an "oiler". The others were "spotters" who helped the driver navigate moving the beast.
OOPS! I forgot to mention that the steel tube superstructure was filled with a gas that reacted with the paint/coating to show were fractures/stress points were so the welder could work more efficiently.
Lou S true but it eats up alot of usable power and with the clean air act it wasnt cost effective Ive heard it required around 60000 homes worth of power to run
@@Bowiiihowdy That sounds about right but having lived in the area and also having visited there many times prior to moving there, I can tell you the electric rates were considerably lower than many other areas of Ohio.
I can't believe they were so careless about the quality of film and low grade video. This thing was pretty historic. Too bad they did not capture this beast with the best video equipment available.
American electric power owned and operated it. Used as much electricity as 25,000 houses. Become increasingly inefficient. The bucket can be seen at 4470 OH-78, McConnelsville, OH 43756
Given the power required to run Muskie, compared with the power generated from the coal itself at the power plant, seems like a pretty small net return considering the environmental damage to our climate coal has caused!
THEY TRULY SHOULD TRULY HAVE MADE (( BIG MUSKIE )) INTO (( IT'S (( OWN )) MUSEUM )) (( BECAUSE )) (( BIG MUSKIE )) (( WAS )) (( 1 OF A KIND )) . . . (( AND )) . . . LEFT IT WHERE IT WAS AS (( IT'S (( OWN )) MUSEUM )) AND MADE A LOT OF MONEY FROM HAVING (( BIG MUSKIE )) AS (( IT'S (( OWN )) MUSEUM )) . . . BUT NO . . . (( BUT )) . . . (( NO )) (( STUPID PEOPLE )) (( WHO )) (( DO NOT )) (( SEE OR EVEN CARE ))(( ABOUT ))(( HISTORICAL VALUES )) IN (( HISTORICAL OBJECTS )) JUST (( DESTROY )) (( PARTS )) OF (( HISTORY )) (( FOREVER )) .
My dad was a crane operator in an operators union and was gifted a horn from Big Muskie at some point during his time before he retired. I can thankfully say that I still have that horn!
Sweet!
big?
Honestly I’d say its a little bigger than a train horn.
YOO! that is sick! bet a lot of people would pay big money for something like that.
I'm dumb, what do you mean by horn?
My grand dad was one of the operators on this through the 70’s and retired in 78 ,, Roy Ginn rest his soul,,,, who would of known I’d follow suit, I have been i the crane and rigging industry since 1991 here in Southern California. It has been a great career and couldn’t be happier.
I have pictures of us standing in front of his 1978 ford crew cab in the bucket of Big Muskie!!
This fella loves this machine like it is a baby.The way he makes the big beast go gently through it's cycles so gingerly clearly shows that.
My uncle Glenn Horner was the head of operations for Muskie. Some old timers might remember him. Coal miners grand daughter here. A disaster at mine 6 was when Grandpa, Pop Horner quit mining. Great history of miners. His son was Glenn.
My all time favorite Dragline!😍I love watching this and remembering watching Big Muskie work in real life before she was lost. That was such a shame..if my family had been there before demolition, we could have purchased Big Muskie and preserved her as a museum piece. We worked on projects like this with various other gigantic machine restoration and preservation..not as big as this one, but we would have pulled it off. Everyone in my family has worked with Draglines all of their lives, so this would have been a welcome opportunity.
I wish you could have preserved her. Many people were interested but the cost of cleaning her was going to be enormous. I believe the Tub was around half full of Open gear Lubricant that would have cost a bundle to have removed and disposed of.. Anyway it is a shame to lose this piece of history.
@@MegaDonns Believe me it would have been a pleasure to preserve her..money wouldn't have been a problem at all and I would have enjoyed the challenge.
@@SarahAParis I can imagine you would have had a lot of volunteers to help, i probably would have been one of them too. I spent most of my working life as a Marion Power Shovel Co. Erectore setting up Draglines and Shovels in mostly foreign locations. I miss the big guys every day.
@@MegaDonns Me too. Remember the Silver Spade? She was HUGE!
I’m sorry you didn’t get the opportunity to save this amazing machine . It’s a shame how machines work their time faithfully and then mostly when their job is done they are cut up . This is true for almost everything , then it’s too late , oh we should have saved that machine . I’m interested in steam engines , old earthmoving equipment and am always looking out for interesting stuff to save for future generations . You family is doing a great job , keep teaching young people about restoring and keeping the knowledge of maintaining this incredible equipment alive . All the best from New Zealand
Excellent video. The best footage of Big Muskie I've seen. Thank you for posting 😃👍
This beauty and the others like it are, I think, some of our greatest creations as a species. The fact that we made a machine over 67 times the weight of an antarctic blue whale for a specific purpose, and that fulfills that purpose well, that just makes me happy and proud of humanity.
Thanks for this great video. The closeups of the bucket digging and dumping were excellent and gave me a slight feeling of operating it. I can only imagine the feeling of controlling all of that extreme power. I will state it again. The Big Muskie, and other machinery similar to it, are engineering, fabricating, and production marvels, in the mechanical world. Impressive is not a good enough description.
Great man great people that actually built this country
The sheer size of old equipment is amazing.
My uncle worked for Bucyrus-Erie back in the 1970s-1980s, and he showed me a photo of two Greyhound buses side by side within the bucket of this machine.
Yes, it was just *that* big.
I remember seeing this photo. My grandfather worked at Bucyrus Erie since the 40s or 50s. Now he's a volunteer at the Bucyrus museum.
Absolutely astonishing machine. It is hard to fathom.
I used to work on the muskie in 1981
Its mesmerizing to watch it clear away the overburden after the hillside was blasted away with explosives like 1/4 mile at a time
Hi John,
I'm a student currently working with 100 Days of Appalachia on a story about the Big Muskie. If possible, I would love to hear about your experience. Please feel free to message me if you're interested. I'm also happy to provide my email address if that works better!
Thanks so much,
Sarah
Easily the best footage yet of this magnificent beast!
It is unfortunate this machine is no longer in use. An engineering marvel I would like to see in person.
Only the shovel remains
For those who dont really understand earthwork, this might put into perspective of how much dirt 220cy is. An average dump truck will hold 10-12 cy. For cowboy math lets just use 10cy/truck. That would be 22 dump truck loads in one bucket for Big Muskie. Thats what you would call not fucking around. Awesome machine!!!
Was an awesome machine, wow! Wish I could have seen it in person.
I saw Muskie in person twice. I also saw the Silver Spade numerous times. If you have never seen something this big up close you can't imagine just how big they are.
Incredible. Thank you for the tour.
2 times our high school agriculture class toured Muskie, the reclamation projects and the automated railway after 1969..I've searched for these videos frequently and happy I found this today..Really appreciate your posting this...Funny thing my mind can't recall any of the tours..
jeff robinson they had many tours....and many local high school bands pictured in the bucket.
@@butterflieshoneybees8181
"Back in the day", individuals could call and arrange a tour like I did for my son and myself in 1993 or 94. Depending on the work load-which was apparently non-existent the day we went-and the security person conducting the tour, a person could get REALLY up close. This machine was a true beast, but ultimately so much more expensive to operate than blasting which led to its' "retirement".
Some Awesome things we use to build here in the !!!USA 🇺🇸!!! BIG Toys! Like Big Muskie and Brutus for removing coal from the ground which wasn't feasible to dig mining tunnels for being the ground above was either not supportive enough or it was shallow enough to just remove the top layer of overburden. The size and weight of these machines are incredible alone. Then taking into account that they were mostly running on strictly electric motors and not so much hydraulics is another incredible feature of these things. American ingenuity at its best👌
This thing should of been put in a museum like big brutes
A common statement, but the cost would have been prohibitive.
Never thought to take video of this machine in my many trips to "Ohio Power/AEP ReCreationland" but did get some fantastic pics of it inside and out when AEP was doing "tours" of the area after it had been retired. The person (AEP Security personnel) doing the tour was impressed by my five year old son's knowledge of large excavators (most kids are fascinated by them) and let us get pics inside and all around, INSIDE the security fence at the site. After that the security person took us on a tour of active mining sites even to the point of sitting within a stone's throw of excavators (half or less the size of "Big Muskie" removing overburden and filling trucks whose tires were 6-7 feet tall. Somewhere I have pictures of that tour-over 100 of them.
@Alex Gregis ...Funny this comes up now...My ex and I were texting the other day and in the course of the messaging she mentioned sorting through old pictures which she rattled off what they were. At the end of that list she texted "Oh and there are at least 100 here of 'Big Muskie'-thanks for that.". We had this agreement that we would do the twofer option on pictures from vacations with our son and give each other the duplicates to keep each other current on what our son was up to.
So for a little while it was preserved
what an amazing machine...shouldve made it into a museum like big brutus...rip big muskie :(
Yea its a shame :(
What about the silver spade ?
@@jjMcCartan9686 silver spade was an amazing piece of kit too and it was destroyed, the silver spade had a brother called the gem of Egypt, was the very same machine only had a slightly shorter or longer boom I'm not sure which, bucyrus eire made fantastic machinery. Never be the likes of them again
@@jjMcCartan9686scrapped in 2007 after failed attempt to turn the machine into a musuem,like Big Brutus
Brian,Thank you so much for posting this! I've been studying Big Muskie and The Captain (Marion 6360) ever since I was a boy and have seen very little video footage of her, especially working. In my mind, a photograph doesn't do this machine justice. Video does a lot more to get a sense of how gigantic she was. Especially seeing that 220 cubic yard bucket being swung around like its a fishing hook. Very powerful and intense footage captured here. I've already watched it half a dozen times. You made my day. Thank you.
bluecoatscheesypoofs big muskie was a wonder of the world in my opinion, mindblowing piece of kit, she was a special piece of engineering for its time, it was far ahead of its time id actually say, their will never be the likes of her again ever, it was one of a kind, and most importantly the sick individual who came up with the plan to destroy it and send it for scrap well that individual should of been punished and beaten to death manually with a shovel just for suggesting such a sick plan, muskie should be a museem right now, imagine the money it would generate for america now...people from all over the world would make the trip to america just to see and tour her, includeing me from republic of ireland, at least weve a few photos and footage on youtube of her to keep our minds pondering and wondering and always thinking of what could of been,live on big muskie forever.
I saw it about 4 times in the late 1970s-early 1980s. You just cannot imagine the size until you have seen it up close. Anyone who has ever been around mining equipment knows how big a D11 is but Muskie made big dozers look like house flies.
There was also a 325 cu. yd bucket. I was fortunate enough to see this machine in operation on my many camping/hunting/fishing trips to the land AEP/Central Ohio Coal turned into recreational land. I was also fortunate enough to see Muskie right up close (in around and under) after her retirement-about five years before (1994) she was scrapped. By that time she had been stripped of all controls and motors but still had the hydraulics intact and the bucket was still rigged to the boom. Somewhere I have a picture the AEP/Central Ohio Coal security person showing us around the mines took of my then five year old son and myself standing in the bucket. I had to take three profile/side pictures of the machine to get it all then stitch them together with photoshop. That thing was MAMMOTH.
I got pictures of me standing in the bucket in Ohio in 2017 it's in a park it's huge you need to see it in person pictures and videos are good but till you stand it will make you wonder how big the rest was wish they would have kept the machine
@@michaelcullen4990You'd travel from Ireland to see big muskie ? That's impressive, me ? I'd travel from Ireland to see the grand canyon or the cascades or zion national park & I'm a fan of big iron too lol.
Wow, excellent video!
Great video......memories....thanks....
We are planning our annual "Bucket Run!" down to the Big Muskie Bucket. Kick stands up at 8:00am from the Circle K at St Rts 224 & 241 in Akron. This is an all day ride with the Righteous Riders chapter 216 of the Christian Motorcyclists Association. Come Ride With Us!
Used to go camping and fishing within a few miles of Big Muskie and saw her several times.
I go up there every summer
Worked for bucyrus we made alot parts .
They should’ve made big musky a historical landmark and a museum
Im jealous of anyone who operated this machine
They probably had some jerk for a boss who watched their every move from a comfortable place in the shade, pulled up in a pickup every 15 minutes to needle them, and ruined it all for them.
Great video. I love the music in the beginning
All I can say is who ever dismantled big muskie should be dismantled
I agree
There was no other option. It's a bit on the large side to move and display anywhere.
Thanks to liberals
Ok here’s a note from the preservation group that worked to save it
A sad day for thousands of people worldwide who had worked for months and raised many thousands of dollars to preserve this giant piece of history and promising tourist attraction...
Although a scrapping contract had been awarded and internal scrapping had been progressing for months, negotiations have also been underway with AEP to preserve the Big Muskie. In the midst of negotiations, all hope suddenly ended however on May 20, 1999 when the contractor Mayer-Pollock Steel Corporation made their decision to use high explosives to cut the 5 inch cables holding Big Muskie's mighty boom up. The boom crashed to the ground in a twisted mess, completely eliminating any hope of preservation.
We know that Big Muskie's preservation efforts will not be in vain as it has brought many many concerned people together for a very positive endeavor. This effort should now be directed toward the preservation of other remaining giants on our land.
Thank You
to all those who have donated their time, money, or efforts toward the preservation of the Big Muskie
More efficient mining methods, new environmental regulations and a reduced demand for Ohio coal have silenced the world's largest walking dragline, Big Muskie.
The 12-story behemoth of a strip-mining machine has rested for eight years surrounded by a steel fence on Muskingum Mine land in southeastern Ohio near Cumberland.
A tourist attraction in its own right, the monster earth-mover can be seen from miles away.
But not for many more years
On Jan. 13, Big Muskie's fate was sealed when its owner, American Electric Power, awarded a contract for the dismantling and disposal of the Bucyrus-Erie 4250W walking dragline.
Columbus-based AEP looked "long and hard" at saving the machine, corporate communications representative Vikki Michalski said, but "there is no way to sustain it financially."
The paint job alone needed to fight off rust was estimated at $100,000 to $250,000, an article in Equipment Echoes, a publication of the Historical Construction Equipment Association of Grand Rapids, Ohio, reports. The story also estimated the bill for demolition could run as high as $1 million.
Word of the decision to cut Big Muskie down to size over the next 15 months triggered a pilgrimage of sorts last month as dozens of people crossed miles of mine country on foot to take one last look and photograph the majestic dragline.
Visitors to Big Muskie shared stories about childhood visits. One even talked about experiencing the machine's inner chambers as an employee of the power company.
Mayer Pollock Steel Corp. of Pottstown, Pa., has been contracted to dismantle the machine that is longer than a football field.
When the demolition is complete the Central Ohio Coal Co., a subsidiary of AEP will complete reclamation of the land as required by state and federal regulations, Michalski said.
Rules governing Central Ohio's reclamation of the land and removal of all machinery are set forth in the federal Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977, which expires in 2001.
HCEA archivist Tom Berry said that "according to the Ohio Department of Mines & Reclamation, a revision to the mining permit could have allowed preservation of Big Muskie had the other terms of the Surface Mining & Reclamation Act been met."
Berry said AEP and The Wilds, an animal preserve located nearby, submitted an application to revise the mining permit, asking permission to leave Big Muskie in place and leave several thousand feet of highwall unreclaimed as part of an educational facility on the history of mine reclamation law.
BIG MUSKIE'S BUCKET dwarfs a Jeep Cherokee that has been backed into it.Sandy Traxler photo
But AEP withdrew its application for permit revision when it saw that it would not pass all the act's requirements.
In other words," Berry said, "no highwall can be left unreclaimed at all under the terms of the law and suit can be brought against any party connected with unreclaimed highwall in the event of injury or damages suffered due to the highwall."
Construction of the huge dragline began in 1967 at a site southwest of Cumberland. Big Muskie was formally dedicated on May 22, 1969. The $25 million machine became an attraction, with people traveling from near and far to watch it work.
The mighty machine is 150 feet wide -- the width of an eight-lane highway -- and longer than a row of nine railroad coal hoppers. At 27,000,000 pounds, it weighs more than 150 Boeing 727 jetliners.
The bucket, with a capacity of 220 cubic yards could hold 1,100 men standing three tall. Each tooth of the bucket measures three feet in length.
The machine could move 325 tons of earth in a single bite or 39 million pounds of material per hour, averaging one bucket per minute.
Big Muskie could work a 290,000-square-foot area equivalent to a 6-acre park without changing position.
The dragline was powered by electricity delivered by a 13,000 volt "extension cord" -- enough power to serve 27,500 homes.
Moving from site to site Big Muskie "walked" on four hydraulic-driven shoes, size 20 feet by 65 feet.
During its years of operation Big Muskie moved more than 483 million cubic yards of earth -- nearly twice the amount of earth that was moved to create the 40-mile Panama Canal.
Used to remine areas previously mined by smaller draglines and power shovels, Big Muskie allowed Central Ohio Coal Co. to remove coal that had been left behind because of the limitations of the smaller machines.
In 1986 approximately 10,000 acres of land mined by Big Muskie was donated to the International Center for the Preservation of Wild Animals to create The Wilds, North America's largest open-range preserve for threatened and endangered species.
In return, the Wilds, located about two miles from Big Muskie, was one of several parties that tried to save the historic dragline. They had hoped to use it as a teaching tool in educating people about the mining industry and land reclamation.
Not giving up hope, Wilds executive director Robert Reece said the group was continuing to approach AEP officials as late as last week with a proposal to rescue a piece of history
wow! Thats incredible
Never again shall such a Titan roam the earth, there will never be another.
Absolute travesty what happened to Big Muskie, an Engineering Marvel of that caliber definitely should have been preserved, turned into a museum.
Outstanding and rare footage. Thanks for sharing.
To be honest: I don't entirely understand how a walking dragline is used in the process of coal extraction. I understand that it is used for removal of overburden, but to my understanding the overburden is removed on one side of the mine in order to expose the coal and dumped on the opposite side on areas where the coal has already been extracted. But even with a 200 m jib the distance between removal and dumping of the material will be limited to about 300 m. Would this give enough room to extract coal between the excavating and the dump side of the mine?
In German lignite mines the overburden is removed by bucket wheel excavators, transported around the pit by belts and dumped by stackers on the coaled out areas. (e.g. Hambach, Garzweiler, Inden) The distance between both sides can be several kilometers.
There are also a few mines in East Germany where overburden is moved across the pit via overburden transporter bridges over a distance of about 700 m. (e.g. Jänschwalde, Nochten and formerly Cottbus)
The process was pretty simple. The Dragline dug a pit (trench) down to the Coal seam. The dirt was swung around to the side and dumped. Ideally the swing was mo more than 90 degrees to the side and the pit was around 2 1/2 tub widths wide. A machine with a 60 foot tub would dig a pit about 150 feet wide and up to 120 feet deep. The pit would be dug arou d 3/4 tp a mile long. After they had a pit a few hundred yards long the shovels would go down to the Coal seam and start loading the haul trucks. When the Dragline got to the end of the planned pit it would walk back along sid the pit (deadhead) to the starting point. While this was going on the coal loading operation kep going to the far end of the pit. The Dragline would then start a new pit alongside the old one dumping the spoils into the old pit. This is a very simple description. Other operations such as throw blasting were also goi g on, anything to get the spoils over to the side to uncover the coal.
Yeah over 100 years of mining with machinery, teams of engineers and $100 of billions of dollars never thought of the best methods for mining that particular geology. Get a brain!
Heavy equipment, such as; bulldozers, tractors, scrapers, roadgraders, and in particular, draglines and cranes, have fascinated me since I was a toddler. The Big Muskie was an engineering and construction marvel. It hurts some to know it has been scrapped for some time, now. It struck me, while watching this video; It would take a huge, expensive crane to lift and place something that weighed 700,000 pounds. Of course crawler crane operators have to be very experienced and careful, with a load like that, and have to use outriggers and many tons of counter weights. The Big Muskie was designed to dig, lift, carry, and dump that much weight, hundreds of times a day, like on a production assembly line, and last for decades doing it. I like that The Big Muskie always looked pretty sharp in all of these videos, and wasn't let become a rust bucket, while still in operation, like draglines in some videos.
In the days when Muskie was built it was fairly common to use Guy Derricks as the main lifting machine for the assembly. In those days a 4100 Manitowoc was a huge crane. When I was with Marion years ago we used to own some Clyde Derricks that we rented to erection contractors or supplied for the job if it was a turn-key job. I remember setting up a 125 ton Clyde near Aurora NC when we erected an 8050 for the old TexasGulf Phosphate mine in 1975 or so. In addition to being an OLD Dragline erector I also was (still am sometimes) a Crane operator. (Received my 55 year of service award from the IUOE about 2 weeks ago).
The day this thing died and was cut up was the day that America as a major industrial power died because we failed to preserve this machine and we failed to preserve the fact that we truly built things that were made to do the job and get that job done and done right the first time unlike now where everybody can't do anything right
Railroad,Preserver,2000 ....That is so true. That machine should have been available for future generations to see what a great nation can dream and manufacture. What a loss!
big brutus still stands as a mining museum in southeast kansas
Matthew Klett ...I've been there. Big Musky was one of the big three largest in the world drags that were running in the 60's. What a marvel!
I mean it comes down to operating costs and the fact that moving it to a different location just to be a monument (which still costs 100s of thousands of dollars to maintain) doesn't make sense.
What a load of shite you talk railroad,preserver
Brian, I have been the dragline business. I was tearing down a 2570 outside of Zanesville Oh. Around 2004. I met a man that operated Muskie. He made a VHS copy of all of his collection of videos he had on The Muskie. It was a very similar collection of videos except it had some home video of him operating it.. I wish I could remember his name. I was wondering if you might know who I am talking about. I was staying in Cambridge and met him in the Lounge at the Best Western
no, i do not know him. but i would love to share some of his action footage
If I'm not mistaken, you can still see the bucket from the muskie at a museum set up for it in Ohio.
I got to see them takeing apart the silver spade
Yes its on Rt 78 southwest of Caldwell Ohio, in a park called Miners Memorial. You can walk inside of the bucket and really get an idea of its size. I was fortunate enough to see it operate in the early 90s.
Yep I got a picture of me standing in the bucket it's big
My now deceased other half was with AEP I was able to explore that machine before it was scrapped pictures can never show the scale of it. The house had a overhead crane inside to lift motors and other parts they were servicing it’s a shame it was cut up nothing like it had ever existed and never will .
Well, that was cool. 220 yard bucket!
fantastic
25 sene kullandım,harika makinadır.
She was a beauty = RIP muskie
They could have replaced him with one of those German bucket wheel excavators. Which is bigger.
They planning to deconstruct those bucket wheel excavators becuase of inviromental reasons and the biggest was constructuctes in the time Adofl Hitler. The machine could move 1.500.000 tons of overbourden and coal a day. I could itself extract the coal out. The machine was many machines in one. Now the search for buyers to scrap it....Merkel destroys everthing...
I'd sure like to see one of these
You can even tho big muskie is scrapped the bucket is at a park where people can see it plus you can see big Brutus a classic stripping shovel which is huge but not as big as the captain which was a classic stripping shovel as big as big muskie big Brutus is at a park where people can see it and it is fully intact but the captain is No longer here it was scrapped look it up on TH-cam you can also see big Brutus the classic stripping shovel on TH-cam along with Big Muskie bucket and the Captain stripping shovel not to mention the Captain is the largest stripping shovel ever built while Big Muskie is the largest dragline crane ever built
Bet the operator was pulling down well over $100K/year adjusted for inflation today.
PinkOld yes, Central Ohio Coal.....(division of AEP) was Union....
PinkOld / I bet he was pulling down a hundred k then.
The bucket for the big muskie is in park in Mc Connellville Ohio
The Incredible Machine
I know this is a long shot... But does anyone know the song they play at the beginning? I have this film on DVD and it doesn't say on there. I suppose it's just stock film from an old outdated editing software. But I want to use it for some films I'm making involving massive earth movers
I ran walking drag line in the past , I sure wish I could ran BIG MUSKI FOR ONS DAY.
2021 is there anything good left in the world
Bad ass💪💪💪
it was a couple miles from my home yrs ago,,,,,,,all it did was hum, it was a very quiet machine
\
That's because it was AC powered. It pulled the same amount of power as 27,000 homes. That's why it was shut down, it was to expensive to operate
Beautiful country out there 👍🏻
Pity that only bucket is left..
bgm is crazzzy
Ok the music in this is kinda catchy
We had two drag lines by my house in Indiana one was called big red and the other was called big kate I was able to climb all over big red after the mine shut down 😂 I got to see every inch of it and man was it big almost as big as muskie
I'm just laughing at your name
The one just east of Evansville In. is still there. You can see it, the gantry, from I-64 MM 41.5, It's about 3 mile to the south. Hasn't been used for at least a decade. The area is still an active mining site but using smaller hydraulic shovels. I think it's the one called Big Kate. I well recall seeing it working back when the site was being stripped in the 90s. I would love to get a tour of it but it's way off the access roads, and don't know who I could contact to get permission.
If your talking about the old Amax 3270W it was the 2nd largest dragline built which weighed 17.5 million pounds and had a 176 yard bucket Big Muskie weighed 27 million pounds with a 220 yard bucket
They said they could get their Electric cheaper at night yet the crane was owned by the Power CO ????
He's got an electric coffee pot right there next to him! wow! how convenient! I wonder where he plugs it in at? must have to have a long extension cord back to the office!!! lol !!
I knew that.
@@cletrac12c72 The problem is where do you buy a 3 phase coffee pot?
Big Muskie wad like most other Draglines. Lots of comforts of home. Most of the Marion Draglines I put up had Things like Stoves, Fridges, Microwaves and sometimes onboard toilets. Usually there was a bed or sofa so the groundsman or visitors could catch a nap, especiall the dual cab machines.
The machine is a power plant, you could run a million coffee pots and a 100 Espresso machines too
They do have enormous extension cords!
I witnessed them moving a dragline from the north side of I70 to the south side in the early nineties near Terre Haute In. Anyone familiar with that machine?
It went from chinook mine to farmersburg mine and is now working at bear run mine near Carlisle
0:58 What about the song at the begining of the video ?
Thank you
of course you had to listen to that muzak while operating this behemoth
У меня вопрос: зачем делать такой гигант, что-бы просто пересыпать грунт с одного места на другое?
А вообще❤❤❤❤❤
Quantos M3 carrega por vez????
168, 220 yards3.
Discovery +, Disney and Nickelodeon are all coming out with several “Drag Line” TV programs in 2022 (I don’t recommend them). What a difference 30 years makes…
👍🏻👍🏻
It swings like there is no weight at all
325 tons!
I saw the completed machine operate in 1972 or 1973 so tub placement had to be prior to Dec 1982..
No they replaced in 82
@@jeffreymoore902 the completed machine operated in 1972 or 1973, I saw it operate..so maybe the tub was replaced in 1982?
Acho muita máquina muita estrutura para pouca terra retirada, essa concha é muito pequena para uma estrutura enorme, acho que o custo benefício muito alto, ou seja os gastos a máquina não paga,
Music on a dragline video should be a criminal act.
The music for The Big Muskie did not do it for me in this video you need to play some Slayer!!!!!!!
Needs to play "TOOL"
BE 4250-W 220yd Bucket
For its time, this sucker was absolutely amazing. Its impressive they were able to build this with how primitive tech was at that time.
Now now, they had jets and space exploration, wouldnt exactly say "primitive" :)
Built in Milwaukee Wisconsin
Cool video, but could go without some of the music addition.
70’s porno music
Small bucket for a machine that big
220 cubic yard bucket ain't that small
Fact : Muskie's bucket is the largest digging bucket used in any heavy equipment
Big ass machine for a small ass shovel
I read somewhere that Muskie was a victim of his own success. So big that structural failures were inevitable and did occur. Far from being a critic because I love big walking draglines, but was the size of him really necessary owing to the shallowness of the easily accessible seams of coal?
as well as power requirements
@@@Bowiiihowdy The power was basically free since the mining was for a power plant 30 miles or so down the road toward Marietta, Ohio and there were dedicated lines and a conveyer system-in addition to the electric train-that moved coal to the plant about halfway between the mining operation and Marietta. The cables were easily the size of a muscular man's upper arm. There was a crew of six or seven (besides the driver) one of which was a welder and also an "oiler". The others were "spotters" who helped the driver navigate moving the beast.
OOPS! I forgot to mention that the steel tube superstructure was filled with a gas that reacted with the paint/coating to show were fractures/stress points were so the welder could work more efficiently.
Lou S true but it eats up alot of usable power and with the clean air act it wasnt cost effective
Ive heard it required around 60000 homes worth of power to run
@@Bowiiihowdy That sounds about right but having lived in the area and also having visited there many times prior to moving there, I can tell you the electric rates were considerably lower than many other areas of Ohio.
You have to be able to walk and chew gum at the same time to be able to be a good drag line crane operatior...
Still a shame of what happened
The music is soo dated.
The machine is dated so music appropriate
this music is awful cool vid though
Honey,, the excavator finally showed up, that septic tank can go in finally.
Wow that guy doesn’t mess around. Hope he doesn’t charge travel time.
No wonder they canned it, it's slow.
Of course its slow,that thing weighs 13,500 tons
My Uncle Joe did not operate nor work on Big Muskie.
I can't believe they were so careless about the quality of film and low grade video. This thing was pretty historic. Too bad they did not capture this beast with the best video equipment available.
Paul S considering this video was recorded in the mid to late 80’s, it’s quite good for the day!
At least someone had the thought of recording it for posterity. What do they use now that it's gone?
Ever watched real film of the people on the titanic?
mom
How could they cut the old girl for scrap Money talks sad
American electric power owned and operated it. Used as much electricity as 25,000 houses. Become increasingly inefficient. The bucket can be seen at 4470 OH-78, McConnelsville, OH 43756
At least the bucket survived.
By using cutting torches and metal cutters.
@@jamesbraun9842 and explosives
Given the power required to run Muskie, compared with the power generated from the coal itself at the power plant, seems like a pretty small net return considering the environmental damage to our climate coal has caused!
You don't have a clue!!
Do tell us the numbers or are just talking out your ass?
Terrible quality music is a pain no need for crap music
Use mute button
A real boring job.
THEY TRULY SHOULD TRULY HAVE MADE (( BIG MUSKIE )) INTO (( IT'S (( OWN )) MUSEUM )) (( BECAUSE )) (( BIG MUSKIE )) (( WAS )) (( 1 OF A KIND )) . . . (( AND )) . . . LEFT IT WHERE IT WAS AS (( IT'S (( OWN )) MUSEUM )) AND MADE A LOT OF MONEY FROM HAVING (( BIG MUSKIE )) AS (( IT'S (( OWN )) MUSEUM )) . . . BUT NO . . . (( BUT )) . . . (( NO )) (( STUPID PEOPLE )) (( WHO )) (( DO NOT )) (( SEE OR EVEN CARE ))(( ABOUT ))(( HISTORICAL VALUES )) IN (( HISTORICAL OBJECTS )) JUST (( DESTROY )) (( PARTS )) OF (( HISTORY )) (( FOREVER )) .